Are you a PhD student thinking about life outside of academia? Do you want to explore alternative career ideas?
On Saturday, May 7th, The University of Pennsylvania's Department of Religious Studies presents, "Alternative Careers for PhDs in the Humanities & Social Sciences" from 3:00-5:30PM in the Cohen Hall Terrace room.
This 3 paneled presentation will include two PhDs who have chosen a non-teaching career path in areas of curatorship, foundations, and consulting & writing:
Curatorship: Dr. Catharine Allgor (The Huntington) & Dr. Beth Citron (The Rubin Museum)
Foundations: Dr. Nadina Gardner (The National Endowment for the Humanities) & Dr. John Paul Christy (The American Council of Learned Societies)
Consulting & Writing: Dr. Jason Wilson (The Guardian) & Dr. David Engel (Wells Fargo Advisors)
RSVP: kastoler@upenn.edu Questions: 215-898-7453

RELS251 - HISTORY OF HINDUISM

This course will explore the history of the religion(s) designated by the term 'Hinduism' from their earliest articulations down to the rise of modern reforms in the nineteenth century. The study of Hinduism is perhaps unique among the scholarly traditions on world religions in that it has to date had no serious connected account of its historical development, as scholars have preferred to take structural, sociological, phenomenological, and doctrinal approaches to the religion. The course, after a brief review of scholarly approaches to Hinduism and their interpretive legacies, will seek to develop a historical sense of the religion through attention to shifts in liturgy, ritual, theology, doctrine, sacral kingship, and soteriology. The course will include the reading of primary sources relevant to understanding these changes a well as highlight both modern and premodern traditions of their interpretation. It will also consider and assess some of the key interpretive ideas in the study of Hinduism, including, Sanskritization, Great and Little Traditions, cult formation, regional and popular religious movements, and canon formation. There will also be sustained consideration of the question of religion and socio-political power as well as relations between Hinduism and other religions like Buddhism and Islam.